In respect to the shooting of shotguns held in the hands of a shooter and positioned against the shoulder of the shooter, while being aimed at a target, to be fired in competitive tournaments, there previously was no known testing apparatus, whereby the shooter could visually pre-check an overall internal loading configuration of his or her shells in respect to the correct positioning of the powder, wad, and shot, within the fiber derivative portions of the shell casing. Consequently, when shooting in a tournament, expert shooters on occasions, did not score as well as they had expected they would score. The Applicant has determined that one reason the expected scoring has not been realized, centers on the possible incorrect arrangement of the loading of one or more of the shotgun shells fired during the competition.
Although no known testing apparatus for this specific purpose is believed to be available, there have been previously designed apparatuses used in inspecting components of ammunition. For example, Messrs. Cofek and Farrace in their U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,966 in 1972, illustrated and described their apparatus and method for metal shell casting inspection. Metal shell casings for shell ammunition were inspected to determine if designed apertures in these metal shell casings were in fact properly made in the right places and in the right sizes. If not, inspecting light sources would create light, which would be blocked from view, and which therefore would not reach a light detector or a light detection locale. The absence of the light at a designated locale, indicated to observing inspectors, via indicating equipment, that a metal shell casing was defective in respect to these apertures.
Also Messrs. Jacobemeyer and Reding in their U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,947, illustrated and described their inspection and ejection system to measure the respective anvil-to-base heights of battery cups used in ammunition primers. They provided photoelectric check stations. When a battery cup was present and acceptable, a light beam was blocked. When a battery cup was missing or defective, the light was not blocked. The passing light beam was detected, indicating the need for removing a battery cup or other portions of the ammunition which were defective.
Apart from the manufacture of ammunition, the use of light in inspecting apparatus is undertaken in many ways for many purposes. By way of examples, Isaac Davis in his U.S. Pat. 993,965, in 1911, illustrated and described his egg tester. In an enclosure, he provided a light bulb source of light, which directed light up through a top opening, sized to receive a less than one half portion of an entire egg, arranged horizontally above this top opening. This egg tester, or egg candling unit, would let an inspector, an observer, and/or a customer, see sufficient light passing through an egg, if the egg was still fresh enough to be sold as good food.
Like egg inspections were undertaken using:
Mr. Cripps' egg tester disclosed in his U.S. Pat. No. 1,073,594 of 1913; Messrs. Caraway and Shimota's egg candling apparatus disclosed in their U.S. Pat. No. 1,142,535 of 1915; and Mr. Brander's egg tester described and illustrated in his U.S. Pat. No. 1,322,755 of 1919.